This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
Hugh Sykes, the BBC’s correspondent in Damascus, profiles Syria’s interests regionally in the Middle East and abroad. Among the topics addressed are prospects for the Turkish mediated peace talks between Syria and Israel that came to light recently. In addition, Sykes interviews HAMAS leader Khaled Meshaal, who has been living in safe house in Damascus.
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Foreign tourism is hitting new highs in Syria, a country with relative political and economic stability in the region.
Story from the BBC
Syrian writer Khaled Khalilfa’s latest novel, In Praise of Hatred, is being translated into English. The novel is based on events that took place in Syria in 1982: a clash between Muslim fundamentalists on the one hand and state Baathist “fundamentalists,” as Khalifa calls them, on the other. Khalifa watched a “culture of elimination” evolve on both sides of the conflict.
Journalist [...]
This evening, NPR ran a spot on the current economic boom underway in Damascus, ironically, the result in part of Syria’s forced withdrawal from Lebanon. (click for the story)
BBC Middle East